Sparked by Internet technology, there has been a dramatic proliferation of business data published and made available to users of computing devices. However, it is common for business data to be scattered across a broad range of different data stores associated with a variety of different data sources. Under the circumstances, efficiently accessing relevant data when it is needed can be a real challenge.
Currently, a user using a computing device to accomplish a business task often must stop what he or she is doing in order to manually navigate through different data stores to find a data item that is likely to be relevant to current needs. In most cases, the tools provided to support navigation through data are completely separate from the tools being utilized for business purposes. It is not uncommon for a user to be forced to switch back and forth between a business application and an application configured to support data searching.
In many cases, the process of identifying relevant business data requires a user to sift through search results (e.g., often in a list format) on a trial and error basis in order to determine relevancy of data to current needs. The queries utilized to request the search results are not commonly configured to take contextual considerations into account, such as why the user is searching for certain information or the kind of information most likely to be useful to the user performing the query. Often times, query refining becomes necessary to efficiently locate relevant results. Sometimes, re-querying using different syntax or search terms is the most efficient option. A user is often relied upon to make good and informed search strategy decisions to get to information that satisfies current needs.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Further, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted anywhere in the present description.